Noriega: God's Favorite

What do former Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega and managed health care have in common? Well, let's see, they're both a little more dangerous than you might think at first look. Neither one of them looks particularly good in white, yet it seems like that's all they ever wear.
There's that thirst for human-blood thing. They both 'deal' in drugs in one form or another. They can both claim to have "seemed like a good idea at the time." And, perhaps most importantly of all, they both have shows on TV this week.
"Noriega: God's Favorite" (8 p.m. EST/PST, Showtime) is a made-for-cable original movie -- a creepily funny satire about a disturbed and dangerous little man (uh, that would be Noriega). As directed by Roger Spottiswoode ("Under Fire"), Bob Hoskins has an actor's field day starring as someone who would be a perfect parody of a wacky dictator, if he weren't, so tragically, an actual person. It's that "based in reality" aspect that makes this character study so fascinating. The film is not rated, but it's Showtime, so be prepared for violence, nudity, strong language and all the other stuff you have to pay $10 a month for.
Here's your chance to see one of this year's Oscar-nominated movies for free (well, for the cost of "basic cable," anyway), as The Learning Channel airs the feature-length documentary, "On the Ropes" (9 p.m. EST/PST, Tuesday). "On the Ropes" evokes another powerful doc from a few years back, "Hoop Dreams," as it chronicles two years in the lives of a woman and two men who try to use boxing as a springboard to a better life. This is probably the best thing on TV on Tuesday, but it does have some competition.
Meet the competition: "Falcone" (9 p.m. EST/PST, Tuesday). CBS is launching its new crime drama (inspired by the movie "Donnie Brasco") with a pretty big programming stunt. It's airing eight episodes in nine days. Jason Gedrick stars as Joe Pistone, an FBI agent who struggles to maintain his normal family life at home while going to work posing as young-mobster-on-the-fast-track Joe Falcone. It gets pretty complicated pretty quickly, and CBS is throwing it at you all at once. But it's also pretty good. So if you don't want to get left behind, it all starts Tuesday.
We've all heard the horror stories, but how scary is managed health care, really? The venerable PBS investigative series, "Frontline" (10 p.m. EST/PST on most stations, Tuesday) has some answers. And they probably aren't the ones you were hoping for. We follow Dr. Martin Solomon, a member of a conscientious physician-run health-care network, which, operating outside of the HMO umbrella and trying to care for people the old-fashioned way, lost $100 million last year. The scary part is in the detailing of how real HMOs manage to not lose money.
This week marks either a new lease on life or maybe just a last chance for rock-bottom-rated "Felicity" (9 p.m. EST/PST, Wednesday, WB). The WB is being very patient with this slumping sophomore, and here it serves up a new episode in a new time slot (positioning it after "Dawson's Creek"). Since apparently very few of you have ever seen this show, it's a clever romantic soap/comedy which you might agree deserves to stick around for a while. (That is, if you ever actually watched it once or twice.) Of course, the strategy of being a really good show didn't work very well for "Freaks and Geeks" on NBC. And "Felicity" doesn't really lend itself for ratings-spiking guest appearances by WWF superstars, so ...
You know, we've been thinking about this a lot since the top of the column, and … you never see Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega and managed health care in the same room together. It's just an observation, but … Hmmm.

This week in TV offers something for everybody. Unfortunately it's offering it up all at the same time, so get your VCRs ready. But before we get to the actual column, we have an important fashion update. Last week, ABC's "Good Morning America" declared that dark solid shirts worn with dark solid ties underneath dark solid suits will now be officially known as the "Regis Look." So for every guy out there who just dropped a week's salary on a new suit … tough break, man. It's just not cool anymore.
George Clooney -- In his continuing efforts to apologize for "Batman &amp; Robin," Clooney brings us another cool idea for "live" television (the "live" episode of "ER" a couple years ago was his idea, too). "Fail Safe" (9 p.m. EDT/PDT, tonight, CBS), billed as a faithful remake of the 1964 big-screen classic "Fail-Safe," is scheduled to air live (on the East Coast, anyway) in glorious, retro black-and-white. The original film was a stark nail-biter -- about what happens when an American bomber gets the wrong code and heads off to nuke Moscow. Now, today's audience undoubtedly includes a percentage of folks who don't even know where Moscow is, much less why we might want to bomb it. But the fact that the show is "live" (meaning any swear words that might slip out or accidental nudity will be broadcast) ought to add to the tension.
-- On this programming-heavy night, TNT gets a one-hour head start to win an audience for "Don Quixote" (8 p.m. EDT/PDT). John Lithgow ("3rd Rock From the Sun") seems perfectly cast as the eternal, wacky, heroic dreamer. And TNT continues its tradition of bringing real star power to its made-for-cable efforts. The first name in television fantasy epics over the past few years, Robert Halmi Sr. ("Merlin," "Gulliver's Travels," and to be kind we won't mention "The 10th Kingdom" ... oh, oops) produced and Bob Hoskins ("Noriega: God's Favorite") co-stars, along with talented beauties Isabella Rosselini and Vanessa Williams.
-- For those of you who like your televised sports viewing to be as grueling an experience as you can possible, you might try the Discovery Channel's multi-night presentation of "Eco-Challenge -- Argentina" (9 p.m. EDT/PDT, today and Monday). Fifty-two international teams of adrenaline-junkies attempt to navigate a 197-mile course designed to keep Argentinean Search and Rescue crews on their toes.
-- A&amp;E's sometimes dull, sometimes fascinating "Biography" sounds like it's got a good one this week -- a two-hour episode profiling the cerebrally silly British comedy troupe Monty Python. If you don't know who they are, you don't need to watch and should skip down to the next paragraph. But if you are a fan: Today at 8 p.m. (EDT/PDT). (Nudge, nudge, say no more, say no more.)
-- If there's an opposite end of the documentary spectrum to Monty Python, it might be "American President," a cerebral but less-silly 10-part series profiling all 41 commanders-in-chief. PBS will air two one-hour episodes a night, starting today at 9 p.m. EDT/PDT and continuing through Thursday.
-- Somehow, that PBS documentary failed to mention the most exciting president of all -- the one who single-handedly thwarted a terrorist attempt to take over his plane, a la "Air Force One." Fortunately, CBS will cover this ground for us when they present "The American Film Institute Salute to Harrison Ford" (8 p.m. EDT/PDT, Wednesday). Expect comments and anecdotes from Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, a bunch of Hollywood stars and clips from many of the biggest films ever made crammed into this one-hour special.
-- And one other thing happening today (at 9 p.m. EDT/PDT), HBO presents the season finale of the most creative and clever show on television to fully embrace the "Regis Look," "The Sopranos."

Synopsis

In December 1989, Panamanian General Manuel "Tony" Noriega, once the most powerful figure in Central America, has become a fugitive and is taking refuge in the Vatican Embassy, much to the consternation of the Papal Nuncio. American troops have surrounded the building with tanks and want to extradite Noriega for narcotics trafficking. Even his own people want him deposed or dead. Noriega prepares to be taken into custody, but before he goes, he makes his confession to Father Jorge. As he tells his life story to the priest, he reflects on significant events: his exposure by former friend Colonel Diaz-Herrera; the unsuccessful coup by his officer Major Giroldi; and the struggle between his mistress Vicky and his strict Catholic wife Felicidad. Looking back, Noriega believes that to have survived this long he must truly be "God's favorite."